"I just took off."

"We don’t have time for (Howard’s shoulder) to heal. We need some urgency. (Howard) has never been in a position where someone is driving him as hard as I am, as hard as this organization is. It’s win a championship or everything is a complete failure. That’s just how (the Lakers) do it. And that’s foreign to him. We don’t have three years. We’ve got this year."

"

His system doesn’t fit the talent that the Lakers have. You can’t run with this team. Who are the runners? You’ve got one guy who can get up and down the court and that’s Kobe (Bryant).

When Gasol was on that (low) block, he averaged 18 points, he shot 53 percent from the field and he still is the best passing big man in the game. But you have him at the free-throw line? That makes no sense. That’s not his game. His game is to catch it on the low block, face his man, one dribble left or right. He’s got great moves. But now all the blame is on his shoulders, like he’s not performing well? He can’t take that. That’s not who he is.

What he needs to do is say, ‘Look, I have a certain philosophy but I don’t have the type of players to play that scheme and that system. But I do have two of the best seven-footers in the game.

It’s a long season. We can’t count out coach D’Antoni or the Lakers. We want to see signs that this thing is turning around. He’s waiting for Steve Nash to return. We’ll wait and see what happens when Steve Nash returns. We’re all spoiled. I’m the first to admit that I’m spoiled with the success of the Lakers. You sit there and you say, ‘Man, this can’t happen to our Lakers.’

"

"There’s no excuses to be made, there’s no whining. No putting your head down. We’re here, we have the talent to make adjustments, we have to make them. Period. And I’ll kick everybody’s ass in this locker room if that doesn’t happen."

"They don’t have the killer instinct. This is not a Nash issue. They’re not as good as they think they are. They don’t play well at home. They’re not even really being truly professional athletes in their own building. It’s just sad to watch it."

"That’s amazing. He must have been wearing the Mambas, man. Only Mambas have no conscious to shoot the ball like that. Would people be celebrating me if I scored 138 points? You know how it is, some people would, some people wouldn’t. They can all kiss my a— as I’m sure he feels the same way. If you score 138 points, you kind of have a license to tell people to f—- off."

"This was a difficult and painful decision to make. Mike was very hard-working and dedicated, but we felt it was in the best interest of the team to make a change at this time. We appreciate Mike’s efforts and contributions and wish him and his family the best of luck."

"I got a question earlier about whose team this is. I don’t want to get into the, ‘Well, we share …’ No, it’s my team. But I want to make sure that Dwight, when I retire, this is going to be his. I want to teach him everything I possibly know so that when I step away this organization can ride on as if I never left."

"

I told Mike that I thought we had a deal. He looked at me and he said, “Who are we getting?” I said, “Dwight Howard.” He said, “Who’s going out?” I said,” Andrew.”

He looked at me and said, “That’s all?” And of course, Josh [McRoberts], and draft picks [were going, but in terms of principles that was it].

I said, “Yeah, that’s all.”

“No Pau?”

“No Pau.”

And he got up and hugged me.”

"

"I like Andrew Bynum. He’s young and just as good as Dwight right now. He’s getting better. Dwight … to me, he’s too much gab and too much talking. I’m old school. I want to see something done on the floor. He does all this media stuff, flip-flopping. You don’t get respect from veteran players when you do that kind of stuff. They just want you to play. They want to see what you can do out there."